


when i saw you in the distance

by parkerxheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Cuddles, Cuddling, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hugs, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Cuddles, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, fear of the dark, i love how thats a tag, in one section lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:09:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22407763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkerxheart/pseuds/parkerxheart
Summary: compilation of small iron dad drabbles that were too small to make into one fic each :)1: nightlight (afraid of the dark)2: someone you loved (aftermath of tony's death)3: paparazzi (peter gets grabbed by an obsessive fan)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 13
Kudos: 141





	when i saw you in the distance

**Author's Note:**

> jesus christ y'all it's been foreverrrrrrr. i'm not dead! i just had stuff to deal with <3

_ 1: Nightlight _

Fear of the dark is one of the most common fears. Sometimes it stems from just not liking the inability to see your surroundings. Sometimes it comes from traumatic events that happened in the dark.

But Peter was not sure why he was so scared of it.

He’d always had a little nightlight when he was younger. It was small and in the shape of the moon, giving off a comforting dull blue light. But he left it behind when him and May moved to their current apartment. And he was so embarrassed when he realized he really freaking missed it.

No one really knew about his fear though.

That was, until Tony.

“Here I’m gonna turn off the lights,” Tony announced in the middle of a Star Wars marathon. 

Peter’s breathing hitched up. “No, it’s fine! I don’t mind!” he said quickly from his position against Tony’s chest. 

Tony eyed him curiously. “Okay then.”

The next time was a few days later when they were both working. Tony was working on an Iron Man suit that seemed quite advanced when the lights overhead flickered.

“What the hell?” Tony muttered. 

They flickered again, and then the whole room went dark. 

“What the fuck?!” Peter almost shrieked, grabbing at whatever was closest to him, that being Tony’s arm. 

“Whoa whoa, kid, calm yourself,” Tony said, touching Peter’s shoulder. “I must have blown a fuse.”

The blue light on Tony’s chest still remained active and Peter’s mind went to his old nightlight that had the exact same blue glow. 

“Frig frick friggin frick,” Peter panicked, holding Tony’s arm tightly. He always hated it when the power went out. The anxiety with the dark and the worry about the fact that the power went out in the first place was not a good combination. 

“Kid, it’s okay,” Tony said with a chuckle. “I’ll try to figure something out but I don’t think there’s much I can do right now. I can try tomorrow. This happens all the time don’t worry.”

“Tomorrow?” Peter repeated softly.

“You alright?” Tony asked. The blue light from his chest lit up his face just enough for Peter to see his concerned expression.

“I’m . . . um . . . I may be afraid of the dark?”

He was expecting a laugh, but Tony only smiled softly. “Oh, kid.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Peter murmured, ducking his head, still holding onto his mentor’s arm.

“It’s not. I’m afraid of water.”

Peter lifted his head. “Really?”

“Yep. Don’t worry about it. I can grab candles and things and we can sleep in the living room if it makes you feel better.”

Peter smiled shyly. “Yeah. That would be nice.”

Around twenty minutes later, Tony had gathered bedding and multiple candles and they were both sitting on the living room floor. 

“Is there a specific reason as to why you’re afraid of the dark?” Tony asked, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulders.

Cuddling up close, Peter said, “Not really. I just hate it.” He looked at the blue glow coming from Tony’s chest. “But uh, your chest piece reminds me of my old nightlight.”

“That’s adorable,” Tony said, rubbing Peter’s arm. “I can get you a nightlight if you want one you know.”

“No that’s fine I don’t need one it’s fine don’t spend your money on me-”

“Peter oh my god,” Tony laughed. “It’s okay. If you want one I can get you one.”

He hid his head in Tony’s chest. “Okay.”

Tony wrapped his other arm around Peter. “Will you stop being adorable? It’s killing me.” 

Peter blushed. “Okay.”

“Not working.”

* * *

_2: Someone You Loved_

It was still so hard to comprehend, to wrap his head around, to think about.

Tony Stark--who was deemed historically impossible to kill, who flew a nuke through a wormhole, who saved an entire city, who brought back the half of the universe that died--was dead.

And Peter hadn’t felt like this since Ben died.

The only good thing that had happened since was seeing Ned when he went back to school. He smiled, laughed a little even, and hugged his best friend, turning his face down into Ned’s shoulder and giving up and crying.

“Peter, I’m so sorry,” Ned whispered.

_ He knows. _

“I miss him,” Peter sniveled.

“I know.”

-

For some reason, everything could not be any worse.

Flash was being the worst he’d ever been, Peter was snapping at everyone out of grief, and Happy never reached out to him after the funeral. 

May tried to help, she really did, but Peter was too far into the abyss of eternal darkness and guilt and sadness to accept what she was trying to give him.

All he wanted was to feel that hug again.

That hug Tony gave him, their only real hug.

Yeah, it was a little awkward, but Peter would give anything in the world to feel it one last time.

And eventually, he stopped feeling anything.

This terrible numbness just took over him one day and didn’t leave, and he felt like he should have been afraid of it but he  _ wasn’t.  _ And that was the scary part.

It was horrible and mortifying and Peter honestly had no idea what he was supposed to do.

That was until he met Tony’s daughter.

When Pepper invited him over.

She was small, only about as tall as his waist, shoulder-length brown hair, and definitely had Tony’s brown eyes. 

“Hey, Peter,” Pepper said with a smile as Peter walked through the doors to her house. She crossed the room and rested her hand on his shoulder. “How are you doing?”

Jesus, she just lost her husband and she was asking  _ him  _ how he was.

“I’m . . . uh . . . I . . .” Peter didn’t want to say how he was feeling because no one needed to know that he truly wasn’t feeling  _ anything  _ but he didn’t want to lie to her either. His eyes drifted over Pepper’s shoulder. “Is that Morgan?”

Pepper turned her head. “Oh, yes. Honey, come say hi to Peter.”

“Are you the Peter that Daddy always told stories about?” Morgan asked, hopping over.

Peter’s heart dropped. “He . . . he told stories about me?”

Morgan smiled. “Yeah! He said you were my big brother!”

And for the first time in weeks, Peter felt something.

But it was an overwhelming tsunami of emotions that sent him lurching forward and tears fall down his face, only to be caught by Pepper before he toppled over. 

She watched him concerned and empathetically as he wiped his face clear of the tears.

Morgan eyed him curiously. “Are you okay, Peter?” 

Peter bit his lip and nodded, trying to stop more tears from falling.

“Come and see my hideout!” Morgan said, walking over and grabbing Peter’s hand. “Mommy, can I show him?”

Pepper’s own eyes were shining. “Of course, Honey.”

Peter let Morgan pull him outside and towards this little tipi made of sticks and blankets on the lush green grass. He had to crawl in and the space was hardly big enough for the two of them, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Especially not when he saw the Iron Man helmet from the funeral sitting in the corner. 

“Wow, nice place,” Peter managed to say without crying.

“Thanks. Daddy helped me, but I did most of it,” Morgan said, plopping on a pile of pillows with her legs crossed. “This is where I play a lot.” She grabbed the Iron Man helmet. “I like to pretend that I’m fighting aliens like my daddy did.”

Peter stared at the helmet in her lap, bottom lip quivering under the weight of unshed tears. “What . . . um, what- what else did T- your dad say about me?”

“A lot about him missing you,” Morgan said, tracing the lines on the helmet. “And that you were the best superhero ever and that you really liked Star Wars. We watched that a lot.”

Peter let out a watery chuckle. “I do like Star Wars.”

“I like it too,” Morgan chirped. “Daddy always told me that your favourite was Empire.”

_ Tony knew his favourite movie. _

“Yeah, it is,” Peter whispered, unable to take his eyes off the eyes of the helmet. “Um, why do you have this in here?”

Morgan looked down at her lap for a moment. “Mommy let me keep it because it has the video Daddy left.” She looked up at Peter with adoring eyes. “I think he loved you 3000 too.”

And then it all fell apart.

Peter broke down, crying into his hands, the weight of his situation finally becoming too much to handle. He wanted to be strong for Morgan but could not seem to do it.

“Peter, why are you crying?” Morgan asked, watching him worriedly.

Peter didn’t respond through the tears and they only worsened when Morgan crawled into his lap to give him a hug, and he held her tight.

“It’ll be okay,” Morgan said, patting his hair. “You just need a Juice Pop.”

Peter half-laughed half-sobbed at that. 

And as Morgan left to get Juice Pops from the house, he cradled the Iron Man helmet so tightly it could dent.

“I promise you, Mr. Stark,” he sobbed. “I won’t let her down.”

* * *

_3: Paparazzi_

The horrible, sinking feeling that went through Peter’s chest when his wrist was grabbed made him panic and his enhanced senses just started to disappear.

He was just walking through a crowd of paparazzi and fans, being nice and signing things and letting them take photos, but this caught him off guard.

“Let go!” he exclaimed, yanking his hand away from theirs.

Then there was another set of hands on his arm and the panic started to take over and tears sprung into his eyes. 

Peter managed to free himself and web onto the nearest building to rip off his mask and try to catch his breath. He carefully pulled off his gloves and his heart sank at the purple and blue marks around his wrist, aching and painful.

He felt  _ so weak,  _ just staring at the marks and trying not to spiral into a panic attack.

He went to web himself out of there, but then.

_ Web cartridge empty. _

Of course.

Of course he left his backups at school.

“Fuck,” he whispered, pulling on his hair. 

He peered over the edge and almost lost it when he saw the paparazzi and fans still at the bottom of the building, waiting.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but it was like Jesus descending from the heavens when he heard the Iron Man repulsors roaring through the sky. 

“Pete?” Tony said, stepping out of the suit before it even hit the roof. “Karen told me you were in a pinch. What’s up?”

“Out of webs and those . . those  _ people  _ won’t let me leave,” Peter said, for some reason feeling like crying as he forcefully gestured to the crowd down below. 

“What happened to your wrist?” Tony asked, bowling over what Peter said.

Bottom lip quivering, Peter let Tony gently take his wrist in his hand. “One of the um . . . he fans got a little handsy.”

“Kiddo,” Tony whispered, gingerly placing his free hand on Peter’s cheek, and he realized that he was crying when Tony started to wipe away his tears. “You’ll be okay. It’ll pass.”

“I just . . . I feel so weak,” Peter said quietly, leaning into Tony’s touch. “Like, this is making me cry and it’s not even that bad!”

Tony rubbed his thumb along the back of Peter’s hand. “A long time ago, I was grabbed by an obsessive fan around my wrist. This would shake up anyone, kid.”

Peter’s hand shook and he sniffled. “It’s scary.”

Tony smiled softly. “It is, kiddo, but you’re safe, okay? No one’s gonna hurt you.”

He reached out and hugged Peter tightly. “I will make sure of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> so.
> 
> (cracks knuckles)
> 
> i supposeeee i should fill you all in on what's been going on with me. i no longer have a boyfriend (we broke up a while ago) but that wasn't a good relationship so i'm glad we did. i had two of the worst nights of my life, including a fight with my best friend (we're good now) and i'm working often and building good relationships with my coworkers. i love you guys so much and thank you for waiting for me<3
> 
> so that's the tea sis.
> 
> which was your favourite of these drabbles?
> 
> love you guys<3


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